A Change in Plans
by KatWoman8
Summary: Harry and Ginny plan to take Teddy to the zoo for the afternoon. When he gets sick, Harry comes up with a different plan.


Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created and owned by JK Rowling.

Written for the Passages of Time Challenge at the hpgw_otp community on LiveJournal

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Mrs. Weasley turned towards the door as soon as Harry opened it and stepped inside. She held a plate of cookies in her hands.

She looked surprised as Harry closed the door. "Where's Teddy?" she asked him.

"He's home sick right now with dragon pox. I spent the morning reading to him," Harry replied as he dug into the plate of cookies. "Is Ginny ready to go?"

"Yes, I am." Ginny bounced into the kitchen. "Where's Teddy?"

As Harry told Ginny about Teddy, Molly packed up the rest of the cookies. "I'll see if Andromeda is up for a visit this afternoon and take these to Teddy."

"He'll like that," said Harry, sneaking one final cookie off the plate. "He was pouting earlier today when I told him he couldn't come with me to see his Granny Molly. He made me promise to bring whatever treat you had ready for him."

Even before he finished speaking, Ginny was pulling him out the door. "Bye, Mum."

As soon as the door closed behind him, Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to kiss him. "I missed you," she whispered against his lips after breaking the kiss.

"It's only been twelve hours since you've seen me," Harry chuckled.

"I still missed you."

"Since Teddy isn't here, what do you want to do today?"

"I'd still like to go to the pizza parlour we were taking him to for lunch, but I think we should skip the zoo until he can go with us."

Harry Apparated them both to The Leaky Cauldron. After a quick hello to Hannah, they headed out into Muggle London.

Soon, they were seated at a booth in their favorite pizza place and had ordered two pizzas. Normally, they liked to share, but Ginny had wanted to try ham and pineapple and Harry, who generally didn't have food issues, refused, saying that fruit had no place on a pizza.

After the waitress left, Ginny slid closer and put her arms around his neck. "Would I be a really bad person if I said that I'm sorry Teddy is sick, but I am glad to have you all to myself today?"

Harry pulled her closer. "I've missed you, too. Gwenog needs to start having shorter practices."

"You could not work late as much, either," Ginny added.

The waitress returned with their lunch and while they were eating, they talked about Ginny's last match where the Harpies trounced the Cannons. "Too bad you weren't sitting in the stands with us," remarked Harry. "I think Ron actually cried." Ginny smiled at Harry's comment and then her eyes grew mischievous.

"Oh, Harry, look." Ginny pointed over his shoulder.

"I don't see anything. What am I supposed to be..." his voice trailed off as he turned back around to find that his girlfriend had stolen the last slice of his pepperoni and sausage pizza.

"You could have just asked, you know. I'd have let you have it."

"Stealing it was more fun." Ginny finished the slice. "You were right. Fruit and pizza do not go together."

"Told you." Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulder as she stood. "We should go shopping for your dad's birthday present while we are here. He likes all things Muggle."

"He's been hinting he'd like a toaster. Mum just shakes her head and mutters something about making toast without Muggle contraptions for years," Ginny informed him.

"There's a department store at the end of this block that should have one," Harry said.

As they walked down the street, Ginny paused at several stores to look in the windows. "Oh, look at that," she said as she pointed to a pair of small gold earrings. "Hermione would love those, wouldn't she?"

When Harry didn't respond, she turned to face him. He was staring intently through the window of the store. "Harry?"

"What? Sorry. I was just..." Harry shook his head. "Nevermind. Let's go get the toaster."

As they continued down the street, Harry thought about the display of rings he had seen in the jewelry store. He began to carry on an internal discussion with himself as they walked down the street.

_What if she says "no"?_

_She won't!_

_What is she says "yes" but wants to wait?_

_Then wait!_

Harry, still lost in his own thoughts, let Ginny pick out the toaster on her own, even when she grumbled about not knowing how Muggle things worked.

Finally, the gift was purchased and they left the store. Harry tugged on her hand. "I have an idea for the rest of the day, but we need to get back to The Leaky Cauldron."

She stopped at the look in his eyes. He was up to something, and she was curious to know what, exactly, it was, but she knew she would have to be patient. "OK."

At their return to the pub, Harry told her he had to go home but would be right back. Before she had a chance to say anything, he Apparated away

Hannah looked up from the wiping off the bar. "He's in a bit of a hurry, isn't he?" she asked.

Ginny took a seat at the bar. "I'd ask for a butterbeer, but I'm not sure how long he's going to be gone. He's up to something and I don't know what."

Hannah nodded at a point behind Ginny's shoulder. Harry had just returned. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

"Hi, Hannah." Harry greeted her as he slipped his arms around Ginny's waist. He leaned down and kissed her right below her ear, then whispered, "Are you ready to go?" She didn't even have time to answer before she felt the pull of Apparition.

When they arrived at their destination, it took Ginny a few seconds to realize where they were. "What are we dong here?"

"You'll see." Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the gate. "Alohomora." He walked through the gate and tugged her behind him.

"We're going to get in trouble if anyone sees us here," she hissed. "What if McGonagall finds us?"

"Then I'll tell her why we're here."

"Great. She'll know more than I do."

Harry stopped and looked at her. He asked, "Do you want to know why I brought you here or do you want to go home?"

"I want to stay."

He smiled before continuing on his way. They soon ended up by the lake. Harry pulled a blanket from under his robes and spread it on the ground in front of a tree. He sat down and patted the ground next to him. Ginny looked at him for a few seconds before she sat.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked.

Ginny looked up in the direction of the Castle. "Um, Hogwarts?" she guessed.

"Not the school. Here!" he indicated the lake and tree. "Do you remember sitting here?"

"Of course. This is where we came after you kissed me in front of everyone. I seem to also recall a few lunch hours spent here."

"Do you remember the day after the final battle?"

"I found you here. No one knew where you had gone, but I knew you'd be here."

"We made love here for the first time that afternoon."

"Harry Potter, if you think I'm going to shag you here right now, you're completely barking!" Ginny looked offended as she stood.

Harry grabbed her hand to stop her. "No. That isn't what I brought... No." He shook his head. "I'm really messing this up. I just meant, we've spent time here and it's, well, it's kind of special."

Ginny stopped trying to pull her arm away from him. When he was certain she wasn't going to flee, he let go of her hand and reached under his robes. He pulled out a small box, which he open while kneeling in front of her.

"I love you, Gin. Will you marry me?"

Ginny sunk to her knees in front of him, staring at the ring. "It's beautiful," she whispered, as she reached out a finger to touch it. It was an emerald surrounded by diamonds.

"Ginny?" Harry's voice had a slightly panicked sound to it now.

She pulled her eyes away from the ring and looked at him. "Yes."

Harry lifted the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. "It was my grandmother's. I found it in my vault when I finally went through everything. After I found it, I looked to see if my Mum's was there but I didn't see it."

Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I like this one just fine."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Ginny leaned back on the blanket and pulled Harry down with her.

The End


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